Arnobius the Younger

“The memory of the law of God overtakes [the blessed person's] own will. And day and night he models his behavior through meditation on divine law so that the life that Adam destroyed by his contempt, he himself may find by guarding it, remaining deep in the flowing water of the law, taking hold of the everlasting tree of life; so, finally, whatever he does will prosper.”

“We agree with common opinion, "He will be like the one with whom he is joined." Indeed, this statement is very true, but it does not apply to the interpretation of the present verse. In this verse, if you wish to make the plain sense of the hymn, you will remember what the Lord said through the prophet to the people: If you walk upright in my sight, I will walk upright with you; if you walk turned from my ways, I will be turned from you. The psalmist speaks to this statement: With the holy, you will be holy; with the innocent, innocent, and et cetera.”

“The Lord placed his own tabernacle in the sun. Not in that sun that, by arranging the days, directs the measure of the hours according to the seasons, but "the sun of righteousness," which, having been brought forth from the virginal womb in the splendor of eternal life has shone the true light to minds, and he has stepped forth from the Virgin just like the bridegroom from the bridal chamber. He rejoiced as a strong man running his course, and in every way he walked blameless on the way in the law of the Lord, having stepped forth from the highest heaven. Not from the seed of people, but from the word of the Father, who is in the highest of the heavens, his course is also the highest, not from the rising in the east, or as from the highest to the lowest points, but from highest to the highest and from excellence to excellence, and from the highest to the highest there will not be one who may hide himself from his heat.”

“From the place [of exaltation] the Father says to his Son, "Let your hand be found by all your enemies; let your right, which received the nails on the cross, find those who hated you; discard them as earthen vessels in a fire in the time of your appearance. Then in your wrath you will throw them into disorder, and the fire will devour them."”

“The Lord leads me. That is the word of the one who the church, settled in a place of pasture and drawn from the water of reflection, has received, the one who is made complete from the suffering of the Lord. When the stream flows, it pours forth from deep veins, there freshness, there pleasantness, there renewal. These things will happen to me because he has transformed my soul through his suffering.”

“What he now has, let us look within the church. He has a rod with which he warns the delinquent ones. He has a staff by which he succors the penitent. He has a table where he gives bread to the believing. He has oil with which he anoints the head of those being present for freedom of conscience. He has a cup from which he will drink preaching the word in such a way that when it is the third hour of the day he is thought to be drunk in his preaching. He has mercy that follows him all the days of his life so he may dwell the length of his days in the house of the Lord, praising the Lord Jesus Christ who rules forever. Amen.”

“Now it is said to that one: Open the gates for your leaders. Cast away the example of Adam who is your leader according to the flesh, and lift up the eternal doors holding the powerful and mighty king of glory, powerful in battle, overcoming faults and their offsprings, worthless of spirit. Therefore, lift up the gates for your leaders. "Just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the heavenly man."”

“Who is the King of glory? Christ, the Son of God, he is the King of glory, casting off the prince of shame. He lifts high the eternal gates of the holy universal church, having cast down the temple of idols just as the gates of their prince the devil. If you should ask, "Who is that King of glory?" the apostle will answer, "The King of all for their salvation, Christ, Son of God, who rules forever."”

“From all earthly profit, from all the things of this world that seem good, raising my spirit, let me come to you, Lord; I have been lifted up, now not trusting in money, or house, or business, or military might or in my abilities, but I search while trusting in you, so that I will not be ashamed when I depart from this body.… I have lifted my spirit to you so that my spirit may dwell on good things.”

“In this place, the lover of God, not seeking any other type of purity but desiring the beauty of Christ alone, in those words which lovers are accustomed to say to those whom they love, cries out in the heart, "My heart says to you, as to your face, do not turn your face from me or turn away your servant in anger." I have done such things by which you, rightly angered, have turned away from me, having been justly angered by my desires, but be my merciful helper, do not turn away from me or look down on me, God of my salvation.”

“All that he suffered, he suffered by his own will, as he said, "I have the power to lay down my spirit and to take it back."And he also said, freely I will confess him. He himself is the strength of his own people because he fulfills his words by his deeds. He said that he was going to suffer and he suffered, that he was going to die and he died, that he was going to arise and he arose from the dead, overcoming weakness of fear and giving strength to a most eager will. Because he is the protector of the salvation of his own anointed, because without a doubt he is "God in Christ, reconciling the World to himself,"27saving his own people by bringing deliverance to spirit and body, and by blessing the nations, his own inheritance, by freeing them from demonic subjection, so that the Son of God, with the Father and Holy Spirit, may extol them and rule forever.”

“When Jesus was baptized, after the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit came down as a dove, the Father spoke over the waters saying, "You are my Son." The God of majesty thundered, that is, he spoke profoundly over the waters, that is, over the nations so that they would be made complete in virtue and in the magnificence of Christ Jesus. And each one stood apart from the rebellious and rejoiced.”

“Although the just suffer trials in this age, a greater sweetness awaits them, if they persevere to the future, which the Lord hides meanwhile for those who fear him. He does not wish to show it in this age, so he may complete it for the ones hoping in him in the presence of those who mock them. Now he hides them in the secret of his presence from the vexation of people.… Then he magnifies his mercy when he prepares a fortified city, which angels surround, the mother city of holy Jerusalem.”

“Even in this hour, we are hungry and thirsty and naked, yet our spirits act patiently and are not disturbed, for the Lord sustains us. He is our helper and protector, and, as it says in the heading of the psalm, we are commanded to "rejoice in the Lord, righteous ones, let your heart be joyful in him, and hope in his holy name." He brings his mercy over us as we hope in him.”

“Draw near to him who is pure of heart, draw near and be enlightened. Let your faces not be ashamed in their poverty. If you remember the wealth of the Lord of heaven and earth was made poor for the sake of your poverty, tried for the sake of our tribulation, you will not be ashamed, nor will you fail. For that poor one cries from the cross. Who is this poor one? He who, although rich, was made poor: "Made obedient even to the cross" so that he could free you from crosses. He shouted, and the Lord heard. He sent his angels to guard his body and removed the stone and snatched him from the tomb.”

“So you will apply this to the suffering of the Lord so that then you may draw out the logic of the explanation having begun, because the passion of the Lord happens so that we may be built up. The more you cling to God, the more the demons beset you with floggings. They tempt you, mock you and gnash their teeth. You call out: Lord, look down and restore my spirit from their evil deeds, my very self from the lions. Our spirit is one in number and disposition. When, therefore, you restore it in good will and you free me from their evil deeds, then I will confess you in the great assembly and the great throng of people, not by summoning solemn processions or by playing roles, but by guarding your respect amongst serious people; in this there will be constant attention by me, and I will praise you before those same people. Therefore, let them not triumph, the evil ones who turn against me, who hate me and wink with indulgent eyes. As I have said, apply these things to the suffering of the Lord so that you do not thoroughly overlook the message of your edification.”

“There is no fear of God in the sight of one who sins against himself that he may find his own iniquity and hate it. He praises injustice as the unjust one is praised. He does not wish to understand good actions by which he will be made worthy in the recesses of his own heart. He meditates on evil as he draws near to the way that is not good, and he does not abhor evil.”

“The truth is Christ, whose justice is just like the mountains of God, whose judgments are an abyss, who saves people and beasts by his advent, that is, both Jews and Gentiles. For people who, being without hope, standing in the sin of Adam, hope in the protection of his wings, that is, in the expanse of his hands fixed on the cross.”

“O Lord, as you have raised your Son from death, so lift me from sin. Lift me, and I will repay them. In this I know that you suffered for me so that my enemies may not rejoice over me. You have not refused even to die for me. I feared you lying in the tomb, but since you have arisen my enemy will not rejoice over me. You have sustained me on account of my innocence. The church speaks in the apostles and prophets because the farmers and fishermen raised up by God, not the philosophers and teachers, have built the church that God has confirmed in his sight forever.”

“Be not offended, careful reader, that we draw a mystical matter from a moral explanation. For just as the Pharisees beset Judas to betray the Lord by offering him his own safety to turn him over, so also unclean spirits beset my outer man which eats my bread and offer to it now money through greed, now luxury through desire, by which, if it accepts, it fails, and when it fails they drive him "to hang himself in a noose," that is, so that he despairs that he is able to be freed by repentance. But he says to them: He who sleeps, will he not arise?… Let us cease to harm ourselves, and let us be made innocent so that each one may say rightly to God: On account of my innocence you have sustained me, and you who had cast me away from your countenance because of sin, now through repentance strengthen me in your sight forever.”

“God anoints him before his own people with the oil of joy. Just as he appeared before humankind incarnate and perfect, Christ appeared anointed with oil before all Christians. There were many righteous people from Abel to Christ, but none born of a virgin, none of this appearance, this form. Who is like our God among the children of God? Let us, children pleasing to him, listen to this one, anointed with oil of anointing, as angels worshiped, the stars sang out and the prophets prophesied. As John was fearing, the skies opened, the Father called from heaven, and the Spirit descended from the heavens and remained on him. It is Christ, the first before the partakers who share this name.”

“Let Mount Zion rejoice; let the church rejoice; the daughters of Judah rejoice. You have judged all the spirits from the womb of the church, so that you may yoke the devil and may free the souls of people. Now, O freed spirits, encompass your mother Zion, whom you have followed; tell his mercy to the towers. In the towers they defend the city and resist the enemies. Place your hearts in his strength. Consider with what strength he fights for you …, so you may tell later generations.”

“All those great, wise and outspoken will die, not only the foolish and those who gather riches. They are unwilling to have mercy on the ones in need, and they leave their riches behind for others. Although they have many houses, their tombs are their house for eternity. Wretched person. He does not understand that while he is in this body he begins to die.”

“He will surely come openly to judge the age through fire. Fire will burn in his countenance, and around him will be strong storms. Then apostles, martyrs and teachers will be gathered, those who have ordained his covenant over sacrifices. These will become the apostles, teachers and advisors in the present. These are the "heavens" who proclaim the glory of God. Then when God begins to judge they announce his righteousness and his mercy.”

“Let us praise on timbrel and with dance, when we, firmly set upon a restored way of life, adorn the timbrel of our body with the models of best behavior. Let us praise him on stringed instruments and on the organ as we play the fresh strings that are on our harp, let us also, as with the narrow needs of modesty make melodious sounds to God, cleansing ourselves from all the blight of sin.”

“For God is necessary to all things, but nothing is necessary to him. Because, however, he loved everything he created, by the great grace of his kindness he deemed it worthy to invite the soul to come to him through the law, through trials of virtue, through sorrows of the heart, and through the greatness of human works. He gave not only the bread of angels, therefore, but also the flesh of innumerable birds to the concupiscent, even to the ungrateful. And lest their descendants fail to fear the unpunished crime of the ungrateful, "the wrath of God came upon them when their food was still in their mouths" because they did not believe in his wonders."Their days vanished in emptiness and their years in partying." Truly, as I have said, you will not desire to do good unless you are compelled by the fear of suffering evil: "When he killed them," it says, "they sought him, repented, and came to him immediately." It was then that "they remembered that God is their helper and their defense." But only those who said, "You are our God" are the ones who "lied to him with their tongues, for their hearts were not right within them." Consequently the Lord said, "This people loves me with its lips, but its heart is far from me." Why these people in particular? Because "they did not have faith in his covenant." For "without faith," said the apostle, "it is impossible to please God."”